Eco Residential - Offering free cavity wall insulation?

nealster

I have now had 3 different companies call round offering free cavity insulation. The first, Domestic General Insulation, said 'yes, I qualify' proceeded to check the cavity, did the calculations, I signed the form and was told someone would be in contact in a couple of weeks. This was in December!!! Several calls and e-mails to them and nothing.
The second, British Gas, said 'yes, I qualified', they did the test (drill, camera etc) and said they couldn't do the installation because next door hadn't had the 'brush' (used to stop the insulation 'falling' into the adjoining property) fitted and they said that their product could not be mixed with next doors!! (cop out in my book).
The third, Nationwide Energy Services, also said 'yes, I qualify' (after being very pushy with his sales pitch), wanted to use previous company's paperwork so he didn't have to work it out himself (conveniently, I couldn't find it!) used the previous drill hole to check, and said 'someone will be in touch in a couple of weeks.......guess what???? yep, no contact.
Ok, sorry it's long winded, but are these companies being given the money from the governments pot even if work isn't carried out, because that's the feeling I'm getting. I don't think I (or anyone else) should have to chase companies for work to be carried out, even if the service is 'free'. Would the next step be to complain to a regulatory body???

Furts

nealster wrote: »

I have now had 3 different companies call round offering free cavity insulation. The first, Domestic General Insulation, said 'yes, I qualify' proceeded to check the cavity, did the calculations, I signed the form and was told someone would be in contact in a couple of weeks. This was in December!!! Several calls and e-mails to them and nothing.
The second, British Gas, said 'yes, I qualified', they did the test (drill, camera etc) and said they couldn't do the installation because next door hadn't had the 'brush' (used to stop the insulation 'falling' into the adjoining property) fitted and they said that their product could not be mixed with next doors!! (cop out in my book).
The third, Nationwide Energy Services, also said 'yes, I qualify' (after being very pushy with his sales pitch), wanted to use previous company's paperwork so he didn't have to work it out himself (conveniently, I couldn't find it!) used the previous drill hole to check, and said 'someone will be in touch in a couple of weeks.......guess what???? yep, no contact.
Ok, sorry it's long winded, but are these companies being given the money from the governments pot even if work isn't carried out, because that's the feeling I'm getting. I don't think I (or anyone else) should have to chase companies for work to be carried out, even if the service is 'free'. Would the next step be to complain to a regulatory body???

For the majority of people the funding ran out, so lots of people were expecting cavity insulation that has not occurred.

There was a frantic last minute scramble before the Green Deal kicked in. In fairness to the installers, house owners have had years to take advantage of the free offers. However tens of thousands left it until the last minute then did not get what they expected.

jasoneco

Thank you Macman. I wasn't aware of the forum rule. I have now contacted the moderators.

Edinburghmatt, we did have an issue in Scotland towards the end of CERT which ran until the end of last year. I don't wish to pass the buck but we did contract one of the UK's largest refurbishment to carry out this work and they regrettably let us down. We did send communication by letter to explain the situation (which included none of the reasons you set out in your post), and my sincere apologies if this did not reach you. Just for your peace of mind, none of this work can be claimed unless we could provide proof of install, which obviously we could not. If it's any consolation, the failure of our refurbishment partner cost us a significant amount of money.

Also, as a point of information, none of this money comes from the government. It is all paid for by the energy companies.

Nealster, regrettably you are one of many who had this experience. The reality of the situation was that one energy company communicated widely that they would be continuing the CERT programme until June 2013, and then abruptly withdrew this offer in January, leaving a lot of people in limbo. While we where not working with that particular energy company, each of the organisations you mentioned were. In my opinion, the fault here lies with the particular energy company who effectively threw tens of thousands of applications in the bin with zero notice or explanation.

sunbeam278

I live in the Merseyside area and was originally contacted by Eco Residential in March of this year. They carried out a survey and drilled the wall etc and told me I was eligible for the free loft and cavity wall insulation so I signed the form. I heard nothing more and in May the same pleasant young man called to say the company had now changed over and they would have to re-drill my walls etc and complete new paperwork. I was told the work would probably be done, when I wanted it to be which was end of June. I am still waiting for an installation date!! I was then contacted by their Manchester Office telling me that I now need to have an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) completed before I can get an installation date and that somebody would be in touch about this in 10 days. This was 3 weeks ago! In the meantime I have been clearing out my congested loft which is no easy task. Last week I received two separate telephone calls asking if the work has all been completed!! Doesn't look like this company is a very 'efficient' one in my eyes! So beware folks of Eco Residential and their promises. I am seriously thinking of cancelling as the stress is becoming too much.

Chrisdude

Thanks for the heads up on this. I have read it all very carefully.
Firstly, I do NOT TRUST ANYONE who knocks my door. I have just turned away this guy look looked very sheepish offering me an entire package (including wall pointing!!) from Eco Residential.

Jason I have seen your posts. However, I just rang Eco Residential after turning this guy away and asked for specifics on why and when etc.
There are so many questions still to be answered and I was not satisfied.
Firstly, we are not in the "Free Area" which apparently is a lottery.
We ARE entitled to certain things for free ACCORDING to our type of property which I have to look up, and I quote from the guy on the phone "Google it". Something to do with our Cavity width.
My cavity width is fine thank you....

So, all in all I have not been given the simple answer, am I entitled to free cavity and loft insulation which was promised on my doorstep AND brick pointing (which the guy on the phone had never heard of)!

Well, apparently IT DEPENDS on too many factors for me to bother.

Mowgs2817

Yesterday I naively let the two Eco residential guys do the drilling and I signed a contract. After reading the info on here I'm wondering whether I should cancel straight away.

I should have said no when they said they worked for the Government as clearly they do not.

Does it matter about the holes they have drilled to do the measurement?

I would be grateful for any advice. Thanks

SaraMonkey

We've just had Eco Residential visit and start their holes in the wall's and whilst they did we looked them up,he did show us their site but when you look it up properly it shows the same complaints from alot of people they claim the goverment grant but don't finish the work.After seeing the post's here they were questioned and named another company,marks for it but that name is not named in these posts.I think a good rule of thumb is if they say they are working in the area to ask them to have overnight to decide and if they say no then question it.It gives you time to look up sites Ie MSE so you can check.Thanks to MSE they wont be able to defraud at least this household.I'm posting this in the hope anyone wondering if they should trust them can check here and see.West Midlands.

Andes76

I have just read through several posts about ECO Residential and after my experience over the weekend, and reading the MD of this company reply I am now feeing nervous to say the least.
Usual cold call from a their rep (young lady) who gave me the speil (heard it before) and I asked the question about cavity wall space and told her that I have gaps greater than 50 mm and that there are "snots" inside the cavity as well.
Her reply was that we can still do this and that they can put a liquid into the gap to remove the "snots". I doubt this very much! Aa previous offer I had they said they could not proceed.
She requested that we drilled some holes which I ended up doing as the drill bit was blunt and "hammer" part of the drill was not working and there was no side handle to add more pressure, She had no eye goggles of ear muffs!!
When it came to filling in the holes, a young guy who had turned up by then tried to fill them with an internal plastic filler and the holes on the nozzle was too small so that there was no breadth and he ran out of filler.
The girl came back the following day with an external filler that I had to cut the end off and also cut the nozzle to the required diameter of the holes drilled the previous day.
Having read the various post does anyone have any positive words to say about this company and especially the final installation and the quality of the "making good" by filling in the numerous holes that wioll be drilled?
Right now I feel like cancelling my committment, only problem is that the girl never left me with a cancellation form!

Andes76

SaraMonkey wrote: »

We've just had Eco Residential visit and start their holes in the wall's and whilst they did we looked them up,he did show us their site but when you look it up properly it shows the same complaints from alot of people they claim the goverment grant but don't finish the work.After seeing the post's here they were questioned and named another company,marks for it but that name is not named in these posts.I think a good rule of thumb is if they say they are working in the area to ask them to have overnight to decide and if they say no then question it.It gives you time to look up sites Ie MSE so you can check.Thanks to MSE they wont be able to defraud at least this household.I'm posting this in the hope anyone wondering if they should trust them can check here and see.West Midlands.

Hi Sara, looks as though you have had a similar experience as myself over the weekend.

jasoneco

@ Sunbeam - This does not sound correct. We do not have a Manchester office. I can only assume that the individual has either purported to represent us when he does not or his company name sounds familiar to ours. Should you wish to explore this please feel free to contact our Customer Services Department on 0808 147 1874.

@Chrisdude - You are right in your view that funding is now dependent on a wide range of factors and can be difficult to explain. I apologise if our staff have been unhelpful in this matter. I would appreciate it if you could call me directly on the number above to discuss so we can address any training issues with our staff.

@Mogs2817 - It is incorrect for our employees to say they are representing the government. I would appreciate it if you could contact us on the number above to report this incident so we can deal with the individuals involved.

@saramonkey - I'm afraid your post does not make sense to me. The only complaints on any website are contained in this thread and I have tried to answer them as best I can, accepting blame where it is due and endeavouring to explain the process as best I can. To suggest that we are involved in some level of fraud is fundamentally wrong. In order for us to receive any payment, work must be completed on someones property and fully certified, as I explained in a previous post.

@Andes - Your property does qualify under Hard To Treat criteria and will be free f charge to insulate. Property will be made good by the installers post install. Should you still wish to cancel please call the number above and we can action that for you immediately.